IR Community Advisory Group

Statement from Prof Gus John

Review of the Tutu Foundation’s Review of the Westway Trust WT

Action-research for this review, which I started in July 2023, was completed in February 2024 and included, among other processes, some 53 interviews. Those interviews were conducted with:

Past and (then) current WT trustees
Past and (then) current Executive Team members and staff
Members of the Community Advisory Group (CAG)
Members of the steering group for the establishment of the African Caribbean Cultural Centre
Members of the Tutu Foundation’s WT review team
Elected members of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Member of Transport for London staff with responsibility for the WT estate
Other stakeholders

After much detailed discussions in 2023, it was agreed by WT trustees and the CAG that the review was not to be a re-run of Tutu, but an examination of how well the issues identified by the communities of interest in the area within the purview of the WT had been addressed by Tutu and the findings and recommendations arising therefrom acted upon by the WT.

In the course of the review, I had total cooperation from and a high degree of engagement with WT staff and with the CAG. This included regular attendance and observation and where appropriate, participation in joint meetings between the WT and the CAG.

The task of sifting that mass of mainly qualitative data, the bulk of which was the content of those highly informative interviews, had begun in March 2024, with a target set for submission of the review report by end-June 2024. However, towards the end of March 2024, I suffered a medical emergency which led to me being hospitalised and undergoing surgical procedures between the end of March and the end of June 2024, followed by recuperation and what I call lifestyle realignment for the rest of the year.

Returning to that volume of work to continue producing the review report has been a physical challenge. However, I have identified a set of findings and provisional recommendations which I expect to share with the WT and the CAG at the end of this month, with a view to receiving their feedback and completing the report as soon as practicable thereafter.

I think I can safely say that conducting this review jointly with at least one colleague would have mitigated the risk of my being incapacitated by unforeseen illness and a hiatus and consequent delay such as this could have been avoided. However, unlike the Tutu review, the budget for this exercise did not allow for that level of staffing.

I can only apologise for that delay, therefore and thank both the WT and the CAG for their patience, cooperation and above all, their concern - and that of many other stakeholders -, for my wellness and wellbeing. That concern has been a source of massive support.

Professor Gus John

24 March 2025